暴风雨期间，老年居民面临着疏散的挑战

暴风雨期间，老年居民面临着疏散的挑战

The firefighters came on Monday. They went up and down the halls, knocking on every apartment in the six-story Ansonborough House building in downtown Charleston, S.C., and leaving notices on the doors of those who didn't answer: This area is under mandatory evacuation.

消防队员星期一来了。他们在大厅里上上下下，敲遍了南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿市中心安森伯勒六层住宅楼里的每一套公寓，并在没有得到回应的门上贴告示:这个地区正在强制疏散。

The manager of the building heeded the warning and left a note on the window in the lobby explaining that the building would not be staffed all week.

大楼的经理注意到了这一警告，并在大厅的窗户上留下了一张纸条，解释说大楼一周都不会有人。

And yet, on Wednesday morning, small groups of residents stood in the parking lot and on the sidewalk out front, enjoying the light rain and fresh air. "I think everybody is still here except a handful," says Clara Hale, a pastor in her 70s who lives on the second floor.

然而，周三早上，一小群居民站在停车场和外面的人行道上，享受着小雨和新鲜空气。住在二楼的70多岁的牧师克拉拉·黑尔说:“我想除了少数人，所有人都还在这里。”

As coastal communities from Florida to Virginia order or consider evacuation for residents, but many of the places most prone to Atlantic hurricanes are also popular retirement locations for a ballooning number of seniors.

从佛罗里达到维吉尼亚的沿海社区都在命令或考虑疏散居民，而许多最容易受到大西洋飓风袭击的地方，也是越来越多老年人喜欢的退休地点。

"Evacuating for older adults is definitely a more challenging situation," says Sue Anne Bell, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing who studies how older Americans are affected by disasters.

密歇根大学护理学院助理教授苏•安妮•贝尔表示:“疏散老年人无疑是一个更具挑战性的情况。她研究美国的老年人是如何被自然灾害影响的。

Bell also worked with seniors during Hurricane Irma in Florida and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and she says one barrier to evacuation is that people who are living on a fixed income might not have the financial flexibility to pay for transportation or a hotel room.

在佛罗里达的飓风“厄玛”和波多黎各的飓风“玛丽亚”期间，贝尔还与老年人合作。她说，疏散的一个障碍是，靠固定收入生活的人可能没有经济上的灵活性来支付交通或酒店房间的费用。

Slow-moving, wet storms such as Dorian can be especially frustrating because they linger for many days, increasing both the emotional and financial cost of evacuating.

像多里安这样缓慢移动、潮湿的风暴可能特别令人沮丧，因为它们会持续许多天，增加疏散的情感和财务成本。

"We often think of disasters as immediate emergencies," Bell says. "But really what I see more of is people with chronic medical conditions that need routine care that they're not able to get." That includes people who need dialysis or chemotherapy or who rely on medication to treat cardiovascular disease.

贝尔说:“我们经常认为灾难是即时的紧急情况。“但实际上，我看到更多患有慢性疾病需要常规治疗的人，他们无法面对这一问题。”这包括需要透析或化疗或依赖药物治疗心血管疾病的人。

On Wednesday morning, Hale's neighbor woke her up at the crack of dawn asking for a lift to the dialysis clinic she goes to three times a week. Hale is still working as a pastor and she has a car, so many people rely on her for rides.

周三早上，黑尔的邻居在凌晨把她叫醒，要求搭个便车去她每周去三次的透析诊所。黑尔仍然是一名牧师，她有一辆车，所以很多人都要靠她来坐车。

"I'm the Uber for this place," she laughs. It's potentially life-saving work. The cab that Hale's neighbor had called to pick her up never arrived, and the dispatcher wasn't answering the phone. Most businesses in town closed after the evacuation order went out.

“我是这个地方的优步，”她笑着说。这可能是挽救生命的工作。黑尔的邻居叫来接她的出租车一直没有来，调度员也不接电话。疏散令下达后，城里的大多数商店都关门了。

"I don't know what she would have done if I didn't take her [to her dialysis appointment]," Hale says. "Probably just not go. Which is bad, you know?"

“我不知道如果我不带她去做透析，她会怎么做，”黑尔说。“可能就是不去。你知道哪件是坏事吗?”

A new poll of more than 2,200 people between the ages of 50 and 80 nationwide found that about 9% of respondents use medical devices that require electricity, such as oxygen concentrators. However, only 25% of those people had a backup power source for their device.

一项对全国范围内年龄在50至80岁之间的2200多人进行的新调查发现，约9%的受访者使用需要电力医疗设备，比如氧气集中器。然而，只有25%的人有备用电源。

The poll also found one big bright spot when it comes to seniors and disaster preparedness: The majority of respondents had a seven-day supply of water, food and medication.

调查还发现，在老年人和防灾准备方面有一个很大的亮点:大多数受访者有七天的水、食物和药物供应。

Still, there's clearly room for improvement when it comes to planning ahead for major disasters. Fewer than half of those polled said they had spoken to loved ones about a plan for evacuating or otherwise dealing with a storm, fire or other disaster. For more information, visit the federal government's disaster preparedness site dedicated to seniors.

尽管如此，在为重大灾害提前做计划时，显然还有改进的空间。不到一半的受访者表示，他们曾与亲人谈论过撤离计划，或应对风暴、火灾或其他灾难的其他方式。要了解更多信息，请访问联邦政府专门面向老年人的防灾网站。